[HPforGrownups] The real Sirius

[Carole Estes]

No: HPFGUIDX 19144


----- Original Message -----
From: "Amy Z" <aiz24 at hotmail.com>


> Hoo boy.  I should get the heck out of the way before I get run over
> by a stampeding Carole, but I'm gonna get my 2 knuts in before I dive
> out of the crossfire, if I may mix a metaphor.

Hehehehehe....I already added my 2 knuts to magda's comments...so no ducking
necessary.

>
> Also, if canon does reveal that Sirius was something of a sex god in
> youth, it seems a bit stereotypical for JKR to then make him a
> washed-up immature jerk 15 years on.  It would also be a bit
> stereotypical for her to make him a 35-year-old sex god.  She seems to
> be doing neither:  her 35-y-o Sirius is mature, kind, patient (I just
> love it that when he urgently needs to warn Harry about Karkaroff and
> he might get burst-in-on by the hearth's owners at any moment, he sits
> there listening to Harry's troubles with his best friend), rising
> remarkably well to the job of godfather, and pretty emotionally
> together for someone who's just been through 12 years of torture.

Well, exactly and this is my impression of Sirius. My impression is that,
yes in his youth he was on the studly side and was a bit commitmentphobic
(sex-god and jerk)...Lord only knows where we get this idea...has something
to do with him being described as handsome and seeming the rogue due to the
mortorbike and all.  But it has always been my impression (even before
GoF...and you can ask Penny to confirm this) that Azkaban effected a large
change in his personality, and at 35 he is neither the sex-god nor the jerk
as seemed to play out in GoF.

Yes he may be still intrinsically attractive to the female population (and
the male population if you subscribe to the slashers view) but in my mind
his exploitation of that has been tempered by age and experience.  Where do
I get this....hmmm  wishful thinking...maybe, maybe I just overextrapolate
from the impression I get in his GoF scenes.  But he does seemed to have
settled down and have a good grasp on what it takes to be a good father (see
his comments in the cave about Crouch Sr.) and how to be a decent
friend/godfather/mentor to Harry.  So why shouldn't that maturity carry over
into his personal life once he is allowed a bit of personal life (i.e. when
he's not constantly looking over his shoulder)

I intensely dislike the fanon take on Sirius still being a violent git
womanizer at 35 as much as I dislike the fanon take on Sirius being
completely unaffected by his Azkaban experience.

We've been trying to avoid both pitfalls.  Heck in the fic I've been writing
with Penny he's 40 and until later chapters he had not had sex in 20
years...(12 years of Azkaban, 4 years in hiding and fighting VW2, and 4
years leading a inconspicuous existence...)  And refuses to have sex with
the woman to which he is attracted until she is comfortable with his past.
Like I said...wishful thinking....but that's my take on it.

carole